The Youngest Guy at BUD/S

About this video

Ritland recounts his experience as the youngest member of his BUD/S class, describing his daily duty cleaning the bell and watching the row of helmets from dropouts grow. He shares how he was rolled back during SQT after making a tactical error during close quarters combat training, but used the setback to gain additional shooting range time and training with Dave Castro before successfully completing the course.

Key takeaways

• Ritland describes being the youngest in BUD/S Class 271 and being assigned to clean the bell, witnessing classmates quit daily
• He was rolled back in SQT after a third strike for a tactical error during a two-man CQC entry drill
• Ritland recounts using the rollback as an opportunity for extra training with Dave Castro, improving his skills before completing SQT without safety violations

Episode details: published August 25, 2026 · 137.4K views · 1:06 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Stories told by Mike Ritland’s podcast guests are the guests’ own accounts, attributed to them — not independently verified. Commentary is Ritland’s, presented as his analysis.

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